Defiant
by HorseLoverTW
Summary: Jorgen comes to some stark realizations throughout his time as a cadet in the flight academy. The greatest of these was learning that he never really knew what he wanted or what he didn't until he met an insane girl named Spensa with a chip on her shoulder the size of Alta. This is a Skyward fanfiction based on the novel by Brandon Sanderson.


**Defiant**

A/N: _Skyward_ was absolutely breathtaking and while I wait for better authors to start writing more fanfiction on it, I'll try to fill the void with these meager offerings. Here's to you, Doomslug.

Disclaimer: Brandon Sanderson owns _Skyward_ and all characters. I do not own any of this.

**Chapter 1: Interest**

Jorgen drove off, his heart pounding as he left the hangar. He could feel Spensa's eyes tracking him and he didn't exhale until Alta was a blue-grey speck on the horizon, blending into the debris-strewn surface of Detritus in his rear-view mirror.

She unnerved him. Always. She was so aggravating, and captivating. So weird and funny. Fierce and free. She was fire and danger... and utterly amazing.

... And he'd actually scudding told her, out loud...

Jorgen palmed his face. What had he been thinking? He was usually so in control of his emotions. It's not like he'd never had a crush before. It's just that... Spin, Spensa, (Saints, even just thinking her name made him goopy) was so different from anyone he'd ever met.

He'd been so cruel to her too, telling everyone who her father was, ignoring her situation as she lived off of scudding rats to survive while the rest of them had three square meals a day.

And she'd beaten him. When she'd actually knocked him on his ass he'd been so taken aback he'd almost missed seeing her face, so close to his. Her lips curled back in a snarl, her hair unruly and wild as it framed her sharp face and her violet gaze so intense, he thought she'd lightlance his eyes straight out of their sockets.

He'd realized it then- that he liked her. She was crass and strange and uneducated and his parents would never approve... no one would, and it would never work out, could never work out. But he did. He liked her.

She gave their entire flight courage; she gave him courage. And she was such a natural, her moves so effortless, so smooth, that he sometimes sat back during simulations just to watch her.

Since the fight- well, beat down would be more accurate- he'd caught himself doing that a lot. And not just watching her fly. In the hallway and the hangar and anytime she was near, his eyes kept wandering over to her, watching her tiny frame bear the weight that Ironsides had heaped upon it with a zeal that made her seem almost inhuman.

After Hurl's death and Arturo's departure, their flight was down to just the three of them, making his interest so much more annoying and harder to keep hidden. Especially now that she was actually allowed to live on base.

When she'd rested her forehead on his chest, he'd hesitated slightly but then almost on their own, his arms had snaked around her, pulling her close. This fierce ball of fight and fire; this amusing, annoying, dangerous, and amazing girl, had felt small in his arms. And cold.

He had reflexively brought her even closer, feeling her breath against his neck, her hands flat against his chest, as he sought to share his warmth.

Spensa wasn't meant to be cold.

They'd broken apart awkwardly and he'd internally cursed, fearing he'd blown it. Luckily however, she'd seemed as much at a loss as him for how to proceed.

And he was at a loss. She wanted out now? There was no way he could lose her. She was too valuable to their flight... and personally he just felt this deadened hole around his heart thinking about her not being around.

It's not like there wouldn't be other girls. He knew his parents already had several potential matches lined up for him- women who would further his political standing as he joined the National Assembly. But none of them were as interesting as Spin. None of them could knock him off his feet- literally. None of them would traipse across the surface to give their comrade a proper send off. None of them would steal boosters for their own mysterious projects. None of them could catch falling debris with a light lance and make it look like poetry. She was a Valkyrie, and when they flew together, it was like they were the stories of old, the stuff of legends.

No, life was much more interesting with Spensa in it. He was sure. He'd have to do everything in his power to keep her flying with them at Alta. And when the time came for his parents to force him out of his starship and into the prison of bureaucracy, he'd just have to find a way to be as Defiant as her.


End file.
